GroshLink

Below are a few questions taken from, w/slight adaption, Tremper Longman III's How to Read Proverbs which I pose for your reflection:

1. Is there someone with whom you relate that you consider wise? If so, who is it and why?

2. As we begin a consideration of wisdom, do you consider yourself immature, mature, foolish? Why?

3. Do you consider yourself intelligent? Wise? Both? Neither? On what grounds?

Just wrapped up a grad conversation on the opening of Proverbs. We discussed proverbs being witty aphorisms and wisdom as a pattern of thought/living emerging from the fear of the Lord. We defined the fear of the Lord as an obedient recognition of the who God is and my relationship with Him as God. We noted that the fool rejects a feedback loop regarding the application and construction of his/her perspective . . . despising wisdom, instruction, and correction.

Some other thoughts which we did not have time to explore include that wisdom is most often acquired through struggle, involves a prudent life, links theory and practice, develops in the context of a community which embraces God and allows His Word and Spirit to lead them into obedient living. Would love to read your thoughts on Proverbs . . . drop me some insights :-)

FYI: I found Tremper Longman III's How to Read Proverbs, in addition to the New Bible Commentary, a helpful resource for my own consideration of the Book of Proverbs.

Eden's eye surgery went very well this morning. Although her cold was not completely gone she was well enough for the surgery. The doctor loosened the inner eye muscle (the one closest to her nose) but did nothing to the outer muscle. He said the inner muscle was very tight so by releasing it the eye can now travel to her left further than it had been able to do. It's hard to get the full effect of the change quite yet b/c her eye is red and may not even move properly for a few weeks until the muscle heals. But we ran into the doctor as we were leaving and he was really pleased with how her eye was moving. He called it instant results.

She had no problems with the anesthesia. She drank 5 oz. of juice right after she woke up. We were in and out in 3 1/2 hours. An MRI takes longer than that! We need to see the eye doctor next week and she doesn't get her right eye patched again until after we see him (Yeah! A week with no patching!). She was awake for several hours after the surgery but has been napping peacefully for the last hour.

Not much more to add regarding the MRI. The actual size of the mass decreased and we'll have a follow-up MRI at the end of May. This confirms the vascular malformation diagnosis (shorthand for a bleed in the brain and not a tumor in this case).

Her Strabismus Surgery will be on Monday, January 30. Pray for a routine surgery to go without complications, followed by a quick recovery. Also pray that the surgery will not need to be repeated when she is older.

One Amazing Baby
One Miraculous Year
One Faithful God
Hundreds of Caring Friends

Eden turns 1 on February 22

More Eden Pics

Citlalli and Grace pose during the hike.

Check out more winter retreat pics here.

Basking in 'Witch' riches 'Narnia' could end up Disney's biggest grossing live-action pic tells the story of Narnia becoming a 'richer' reality day-by-day and Prince Caspian coming on-line. But not without some heated conversation within the Christian media subculture. More of my thoughts on this later, as I [Tom] am pressed for time while at home 'watching' Eden (this post brought to you by a very sweet nap) and taking a 'break' from ministry after a packed winter retreat focusing on Daniel 1-3 (come back for more later).

P.S. Hoping to find The Lion, The Witch, and Wardrobe 2 disc set in Hayley and Ellen's Easter Basket. Available on April 4 ;-)

Eden's doctor's secretary called Thursday afternoon to tell us that the mass is smaller! Yeah! Our doctor will call with more details Monday or Tuesday after she consults with the Tumor Board. But she wanted us to have the good news right away. Thank-you for walking with us during this time. We received an answer to our prayer regarding a 'clearer diagnosis.' Pray for Eden's continued developmental improvement, we're particularly waiting for her to crawl (she's so close) and to begin to annunciate sounds en route to words.

By 1877, there was enough evangelical activity that students from across Cambridge's 17 colleges organized the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU), which focused on evangelism and encouraged students to pursue missionary careers. CICCU president J. E .K. Studd invited D. L. Moody and Ira Sankey to Cambridge in 1882. Studd's father had earlier professed faith in Christ during a Moody visit to London.

Ever asked where your organization came from? Well, here's a brief history of the roots of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship from a recent Christianity Today piece. Thought you might be interested (note: alum should feel free to post some any memories/stories they'd like to share). I have some notes laying around that I'll try to 'get up' in the coming month . . .

after we recover from all of Eden's appointments, the next MRI being January 19th. Please pray for a clear diagnosis and a timeline for future treatment.

In case you were wondering the outcome of Eden's occupational therapy (OT) evaluation--

The therapist used a developmental inventory checklist to assess Eden in different areas (e.g. fine motor, gross motor, adaptive skills...). When you tally up the numbers it gives you the age she performs at for the different areas. For example, Eden is 10 months old and she performs at a 4 month old level for Gross motor. Here's where it's important not to get caught up with numbers, b/c the test was not specific enough to accurately measure her skills. It asked no questions about ability to roll over and that's a pretty key skill. According to the test numbers she made no progress in gross motor since June and we know that's not the case. She's made great progress since then. So, for what it's worth, that's the developmental inventory.

We will add OT approx. 3 times per month, alternating with vision therapy (VT). The OT will focus on fine motor skills like self-feeding and picking things up and releasing them. We also plan to do some contraint induced therapy where Eden will not be allowed to use her left arm. This particular therapist also knows some massage techniques that she will use. And b/c she's done some developmental therapy she can give us some tips to help Eden make the appropriate consonant sounds. She doesn't make them yet and should be doing that at this age.

We'll start this Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes when I know more.

Theresa

Just wanted to give a brief update on Eden's opthamology appt. yesterday. The doctor was once again pleased with how Eden's eye looked. It's very healthy and he thinks it may have come out a little closer to midline since last time. He's ready to do surgery now--he said it wouldn't prevent her eye from continuing to come out, if it's going to do that. And it will only help her, even if another surgery is needed 5 years down the road. Once he straightens her eye, because of her palsy, it still won't move normally like the other one does. But at least it will be at midline and may move beyond that.

The surgery is out-patient, under general anesthesia. When she leaves she doesn't have a dressing or patch over her eye or anything. The incisions are right next to the eyeball itself, so no skin is cut. I forget if the doctor said he does 15 of these a week or per month. Nonetheless, he does many.

Even after surgery we will need to patch the good eye each day, though maybe not quite as frequently as we do now. The purpose will be to maintain visual acuity in the left eye. The doctor believes her vision is very high in that eye, but it's impossible to determine exactly how well she sees out of the left eye until she is able to speak to communicate what she sees. That's a few years down the road.

The secretary will call me with a date for surgery. Side note here--I'm always impressed with the promptness of this doctor. I arrived today 10 min. early and was seen right away. I walked to the appt. and had I walked straight home afterwards (instead of stopping for lunch with Thomas at Panera) I would have been home within an hour. Now how often does that happen at a hospital???!!

Today, Thursday, Eden will have an evaluation for Occupational Therapy. This will focus on her right arm and hand. After the evaluation we can set up regular therapy appointments.

Next MRI is Jan. 19.

Cheers,
Theresa